Suzi Vitara 1.6 petrol

Johro

Am after a bit of advice (again), on this particular offering, Vitara's any good?
My mate has one, bit older, but looks much better with the bullbar and alloys n stuff, all the same, worth buying or not?
http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/1789033

Fishtits

Am after a bit of advice (again), on this particular offering, Vitara's any good?
My mate has one, bit older, but looks much better with the bullbar and alloys n stuff, all the same, worth buying or not?

Haven't looked at the ad TBH, you talk about bullbars and looks etc,

What are your criteria/context/needs regarding the vehicle itself? looks? off road ability? economy? depreciation?

Give us a hint - what do you want this machine to do for you?

101sean

If it's for a second runaaround vehicle they are a good buy. A lot of the shiny stuff bolted to these can be really impractical (like those stupid chrome sidebars) so don't be swayed by it (this is coming from someone who likes shiny stuff but it has to do the job!) There used to be a lot of hairdresser ones in the UK on wide wheels, lowered suspension and lots of chrome when they first came out :eek:

The Vitara is otherwise a handy 4x4 that has a lot of fans and good support. That one seems cheap, maybe that fact that it's petrol goes against it here (nothing wrong with the petrol engine, at least it's not a French built diesel)

Top Dog

No mention of tax, test or servicing so without talking to the seller it'd be impossible to say if it was worth a punt or not.

Johro

Fishtits wrote: »

Haven't looked at the ad TBH, you talk about bullbars and looks etc,

What are your criteria/context/needs regarding the vehicle itself? looks? off road ability? economy? depreciation?

Give us a hint - what do you want this machine to do for you?

All of the above really, though looks not so much. Just an observation on my mate's vitara that it looks kinda meatier and less like a car with the bits on. Having said that, they gotta be functional and not shiny decoration as said by 101sean.
No matter, I went to have a look at the one in the ad, or tried to, the guy said 'ring me when ya get to Kilkenny and I'll give ya directions' and when I did he told me it was sold.
Turns out a local guy has one, '94, 4 wheel drive perfect and nice wheels, good tyres, brakes good, headgasket needs doing, hence she's 375 euro.
My bro's a mechanic and he said he'll do the head if I buy, so am thinking about it. In the meantime this one ain't going nowhere, not advertised or anything, so have time to check out other offers too.

Johro

101sean wrote: »

The Vitara is otherwise a handy 4x4 that has a lot of fans and good support. That one seems cheap, maybe that fact that it's petrol goes against it here (nothing wrong with the petrol engine, at least it's not a French built diesel)

Yeah, gotta agree and I do think diesel rules. I drive my Vito most of the time though so as a second runaround it would do. In an ideal world someone would offer me a swb commercial Pajero or Trooper for not too much money;)

Brianmeath

Whats wrong with the diesel engine lads?
was thinking of getting a 05 06 for here self.

triskell

Brianmeath wrote: »

Whats wrong with the diesel engine lads?
was thinking of getting a 05 06 for here self.

I have a '06 vit have a lot of probs with filters, diesel particle filter and the cat . main dealers fobbed me off so after some research and a few pointers from 101sean i got to the bottom of it. The frenchie diesel engine is very sensitive to the grade of diesel and the type of engine oil it's really only the early version of the new model grand vitara '06 to early '07, the cat filter needs a regular motorway drive to clear it out otherwise it's a bit sluggish.
Now after all that, it has never let me down in the bad weather in early december including driving through 15 inches of fresh snow for 3 miles.
The 2litre engine is underpowered i really noticed it in the snow, you just knew you had nothing extra there if you needed it.
All in all it's a hardy little bastard and it has got me out of a few places I thought i was swamped

Brianmeath

Thanks triskell,
Have a c4 at the minute and have the same problems particle filter don't know if i want that hassle again to be honest,

I still mite take the chance she wont be doing many mile and the motorway is only down the road:)

Power wont be a concern as the roads around here are s**t and she is a Sunday driver sevens days a week,
but then again this mite be bad for the particle filter and cat

triskell

Power wont be a concern as the roads around here are s**t and she is a Sunday driver sevens days a week,
but then again this mite be bad for the particle filter and cat[/QUOTE]

I find the filter light really kicks up if i'm just poking around , short runs like 10-15 mins spins. it's a pain in the arse and a waste of diesel to have to do 30-40 miles to clear out the cat, and she's not great on diesel either 30ish I had jeep cherokee 2.5 crd that was slightly better at 35+
There's not much power there if you need to overtake, its prob cat related though

101sean

I know most of you are allergic to petrol but in some cases like this it may be a better bet for local journeys with DPFs etc to worry about on diesel. The electronics on the latest vehicles also makes it harder to bin all that emissions junk as well once it out of warranty.